Google Easy Embed sits between two permission systems: monday.com’s (who can see the board view) and Google’s (who can open the underlying file). This article explains how those two layers interact, and what to expect when teammates or external guests open a board with an embedded file.
The two permission layers
| Layer | Controlled by | What it gates |
|---|---|---|
| Board access | monday.com workspace + board permissions | Whether someone can see the Google Easy Embed view at all |
| File access | Google’s sharing settings on the file | Whether the embed loads as a real document or as Google’s “request access” prompt |
A teammate needs both layers to line up to use an embedded file successfully.
How access modes change Google sharing
When you change the Access mode dropdown in the Easy Embed toolbar (View, Comment, Edit, or Restricted), Google Easy Embed updates the underlying file’s sharing settings to match:
- View → Google role: Viewer.
- Comment → Google role: Commenter.
- Edit → Google role: Editor.
- Restricted → No sharing changes are made — Google’s existing per-account access settings apply.
This is why a teammate’s experience can change overnight: someone with the right to change the access mode flipped it, and Google’s sharing updated underneath.
For full mode reference, see Access modes.
Who can change the access mode
Only the owner of the view configuration — the person who first embedded the file — can change the access mode. Other teammates see the current level in the toolbar header but cannot modify it.
That’s by design: it stops a curious viewer from accidentally flipping the doc to Edit and creating a free-for-all on a sensitive file.
What teammates need
For a teammate on your monday workspace to use an embedded file:
- They need access to the board view (handled by monday’s board permissions).
- They need a Google account.
- The first time they open the embed, they may be prompted to Connect to Google so the file loads against their authenticated Google session (see Connect to Google).
Once they’ve connected once, the embed loads silently on every future visit.
What external guests see
External guests on a monday.com board are common — a contractor, an agency partner, a client. For them:
- The board view still loads.
- The Google file inside the embed only loads if the guest’s Google account has access to that file.
- If the guest’s Google account doesn’t have access, they see Google’s standard “Request access” screen — exactly as if they’d opened the file directly in Google Drive.
So Easy Embed doesn’t grant file access to guests; it just renders the same file Google would otherwise render. If you want a guest to see the file, share the file directly with their Google account first, then they’ll be able to view it through the embed.
Sensitive files: use Restricted
When the file is sensitive (a contract draft, a financial model, an HR document) and you don’t want Easy Embed broadcasting a sharing change:
- Use Restricted as the access mode.
- Manage who can open the file via Google’s existing sharing settings on the file itself.
- Anyone without explicit Google access sees the standard Google “request access” prompt.
The drive.file scope
Easy Embed connects to Google with the drive.file OAuth scope. That means Easy Embed only sees the specific files you pick through the Drive picker — not your whole Drive. So even if a teammate has their Google account connected to Easy Embed, the connection itself doesn’t grant Easy Embed access to anything they haven’t explicitly chosen.